Find Out 8 Common Eyeliner Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Fact Checked By Skin Formulations
| Feb 4, 2022
Introduction
There are millions of eyeliners sold all over the world every year, and for a good reason too!
The humble eyeliner has become a staple in every makeup bag and on every vanity table. Eyeliner is considered to be one of the most impactful pieces of makeup in anyone’s collection and one of the most effortless pieces to use to create so many different looks on your eyes.
However, saying all of that, there are some mistakes that we can honestly say we are guilty of doing when it comes to eyeliner application. We have all been young and inexperienced at some point!
To be clear, mistakes are only classed as mistakes if they go wrong! And some of the most iconic makeup looks have come from a good idea gone bad, so we are not saying you are doing anything wrong with your eyeliner application; we are just trying to make it that little bit easier by pointing out the potential pitfalls!
So what are the top 8 common mistakes when applying eyeliner, and how do we avoid them? Let’s have a look!
1. Pulling on the skin
Dragging your eyeliner along the skin on your eyes will not only give you a jagged line but there is also always the potential that the action can irritate the delicate eye area.
The solution is to gently pull the skin taut from the outer corner in the direction of the temple to stretch the skin and allow the eyeliner to glide smoothly.
2. Applying it in bad lighting
Applying eyeliner in lousy lighting is a recipe for disaster! Bad lighting can hide mistakes that you don’t see until it’s too late, and it can also make you think the eyeliner looks a certain way, but it doesn’t!
The solution is to choose sharp lighting to ensure you can see everything, or find a space with as much natural daylight as possible, which is best in front of a window.
3. Do mind the gap!
One of the biggest eyeliner mistakes is leaving a gap between the top lid liner and the eyelid. This can make your eyeliner look like it has been applied in the previous lousy lighting and completely ruin a makeup look!
The solution is to keep as close to the top lash line as possible when applying your eyeliner. If you find this problematic in one sweeping motion, use smaller strokes or even dot along the lash line and fill in as you go along.
4. Applying one thick line along the bottom of the eye
While a big and bold line across the bottom lash line was perfectly acceptable in the 80s, we have moved on in knowledge and technique since then!
Your eyeliner along your bottom lash line is the most crucial for shaping your whole makeup look, so be delicate with the line and smudge out with a cotton bud to remove some of the harshnesses from the line if you are a bit heavy-handed.
5. Using a blunt eyeliner pencil
With an eyeliner pencil should always come a sharpener!
Using a blunt eyeliner pencil will create too much friction on your skin, and you will have less control over the effect that comes out of the pencil when there is no definitive point to control. The simple solution is to always keep your eyeliner sharpened. Simple!
6. Not waiting for eye creams to absorb
We get that you may be in a rush to meet your reservations. Still, if you don’t let your eye creams settle fully into your skin before attempting to apply your eyeliner, you will simply end up with a bit of a mess!
Eyeliners are designed to sit on the primed skin, so any excess oiliness or residue from creams will inevitably make the liner color slip, and it won’t stay in the place you put it!
If this is the case, remove any residue from your face with dry cotton wool or blotting paper.
Suppose you are in the middle of your makeup look. In that case, you could dry the eye area out by dotting on some translucent setting powder to prime the area for eyeliner application.
7. Using a color that is wrong for your eye color/skin tone
This mistake is one of the biggest we see every day!
While there is absolutely nothing wrong with experimenting with different colored eyeliners for a bold or specific look, there is much to be said about choosing the right eyeliner color to complement your eye color and skin tone.
Things you need to consider are:
- The look you are trying to achieve
- Your existing eye color
- Your skin tone
- The complimentary colors to use (In the case of eyeliner, black is not a color that suits everyone!)
- The rest of your makeup look
This is certainly appropriate when trying to achieve a more natural and effortless makeup look. If you want bold, do bold!
8. Using a dried-out pencil
This is a big no-no!
We know you may love this eyeliner and couldn’t be without it, but if it is old, dried out, and a little bit of a hazard to use, it needs to go!
Dried-out eyeliner pencils increase the chances of you getting your makeup wrong and can increase the risk of infection in your eyes. Make sure your eyeliner is always in the best condition; dried-out pencils just won’t be helpful at all!
Conclusion
All in all, everyone should have eyeliner in their makeup armory!
You can create different makeup looks with one simple eyeliner as they are so diverse, impactful, and multifunctional.
To avoid the eyeliner mistakes we have noted here, know a little bit about the cosmetic item itself. Learning the best way to apply it in different circumstances can avoid some eyeliner disasters!
Make sure that you have a steady hand and good lighting. This will give you the best finished look. Make sure that you do not drag or pull the delicate skin around the eye or do anything to irritate the eye. However, if you want to be bold and colorful with your eyeliner looks, then do it!
There are no fundamental rules set in stone for colors to use. However, if you are looking for natural looks, make sure that your eyeliner compliments your eye color and skin tone and is blended to create a beautiful (and not harsh!) definition of the eye rather than a thick line!
